Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Key Points

• Jennifer Newstead, an insider at Meta Platforms, sold 519 shares of the company's stock on October 7th for a total of $372,112.62, reducing her position to 29,313 shares valued at over $21 million.
• Meta Platforms announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.3%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 7.60%.
• The company's stock price recently increased by 2.2% to $733.51, and analysts have generally issued favorable ratings, with a consensus target price of $830.68.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total transaction of $372,112.62. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 29,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,016,834.74. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $741.50, for a total transaction of $384,838.50.
• On Tuesday, September 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $769.20, for a total value of $399,214.80.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.16, for a total transaction of $398,156.04.
• On Tuesday, September 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total value of $393,142.50.
• On Tuesday, September 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total value of $376,923.75.
• On Tuesday, August 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.47, for a total value of $389,493.93.
• On Monday, August 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $402,225.00.
• On Tuesday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70.
• On Tuesday, July 29th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34.
• On Tuesday, July 22nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total value of $371,655.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $15.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $733.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,684,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,587,763. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $753.89 and a 200-day moving average of $677.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,587,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Pachira Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.